


Replaying Conversations

by angree_baratheon



Category: Brave (2012), Rise of The Brave Tangled Dragons - Fandom, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Childhood Friends, F/M, Friends to Lovers, I might be butchering the scottish dialect so please forgive me, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-21 06:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17038154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angree_baratheon/pseuds/angree_baratheon
Summary: Jack and Merida are thebest of friends. They went through their first meet as rivals, their second meet as angsty awkward teens, and then grew up together as adventurous and sporting young adults. However, things are changing quick before Merida could blink and maybe the years of friendship they've built are finally tested when romance and feelings rear its ugly — but maybe a bitcharming— head.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's truly inspired by a recent drawing I drew of Merida spending time at the beach in a cute polka-dot one-piece (in the shapes of a strawberry!) but her thick hair causes her to get overheat so it's always been Jack's job to fan her neck out and remind her to lotion up before she sunburns. And from there, I just draw the dots that they should be best friend, Merida should fall for him, and Jack should be the bestest of best friend anybody can have!

 

 

**Typical Tuesday**

* * *

 

Now, before anybody could argue, it wasn't like Merida was doing it on purpose.

Except that she was. Except that maybe, she didn't particularly care for the social norms. But also — perhaps she _could've_ considered the fact that Jack was, in fact, seemed to be engrossed in whatever conversations he was having with the people in his classes. And, ideally, with that scenario, it's in her best interest to not interrupt what-seems-to-be a very serious conversation (if the way Jack nodding along and doing that pinched sort of look he always does whenever he concentrates are any indication). However, has Merida ever been the one to follow simple rules like that? Feel free to call her mum to get about a hundred and one page detailing her history, personality, past crimes and theories on why she behaves the way she behaves all in an autographed copy.

She's joking, though. Mostly.

But regarding the fact that she's just definitely bellowed, "Catch me, my fair lad!" across the hall the moment she saw him and sprinted at him like a bulldozer with one-hundred-and-fifty percent faith that he'll catch her? Oh, that part was mostly true.

And there she goes, Jack going from a quick curse — "Fuck!" — to another speedy protest — "Wait, Merida, hold on!" — to absolute acceptance which forms into this familiar stance, dropping all of his textbooks on the spot, and arms spreading wide, to catch her. _Thump!_  And her laughter echoes, loud, when her legs go around to wrap around the middle of Jack's torso while the platinum-haired fellow spins a little to avoid the collision from toppling backwards right against the ground. 

"Crazy witch," She could hear Jack murmurs when he slows down their momentum, but honestly, that just makes her laugh harder and seemingly tries her best to climb onto his lean frame even more. Just hitching upwards and using those shoulders as ledges of sort, you know? Fun. Under her, though, Jack grunts, but he tightens her hold around her hips, hitching her close and being careful from the danger of dropping her.

"Hi there, Ti! And yer must be Chloe! Heard so much 'bout ye. Ah'm Merida." Merida spins to greet just in time to watch Chloe giving the both of them a wide-eyed look while Toothiana supplies a grin, hips cocked to the side.

"Hey there, Mer. I see you're spirited as usual." 

"Aye, I was in dae' borin' class, yae know that one, Jack, 'n I was losing my fightin' spirit, I was. Thank God I be seein' Jack here. Knocked all the energy I lost right back 'n me, I say. Must be the death hair. I can finally recall what humour truly means," Merida sighs playfully, but not without grinning just a second later and ruffling what she has only called a second ago as ' _death hair_ ', to which, her hand in Jack's hair, is only responded with the male in the conversation attempting to shake it off by physically moving his head side-to-side, frowning — though it only result in Merida throwing her head back and laughing some more. Jack smiles too, just a little, but hides it very importantly when he tries to mimic a blank stare.

"Ha ha, that's funny. Make fun of the hair all you want. _Everybody_ compliments on it, you know."

"They're blind, is what they are, the lots o' them!" 

"I like them," Toothiana interrupts kindly, stepping forward into the circle to pet on Jack's white strands, to which, when Merida looks down to gasp, Jack smirks at. _The nerve o' him!_

"Betrayal, s' what 'dis is! I demand a match tae settle this once and fer all!" Merida cries out in distress, somehow knees bunching up like she could literally climb on the lithe body of one Jack Overland some more, but the matter of fact is, she couldn't. Jack, as a form of protest, lets out a wince when a particular move jabs him right in the ribs and immediately pinch a skin there where his best friend's thigh are exposed from her shorts. Merida yelps. Jack warns, "C'mon. My muscles are straining."

"Boo!" She responds, but she hops herself down. She still stands close though — at this point in her life, it's hard not to. She's been friends and been around Jack _forever_. Well, probably since they're in second grade together when his family moved to Scotland, and then later when they're in eighth grade, united in the great country of America before they decided to split and go straight to Europe for studying. All and all, Merida and Jack has _history_. Simply put, they're two peas in a pod! To exist without another is insane. And right now, attached to the hip? Yeah, you can imagine how inseprable they are.

Which, she supposes, is something Chloe is slowly starting to understanding, smiling friendlily at Merida when she points out, "You guys seem close."

"Urgh," Jack interrupts before she could, "I'm cursed with her."

A _splat!_  — "Ow!" — and Merida retreats her hand from slapping (probably one of her only truest) friend in the stomach, smiling big and proud. "Aye. What he says, 'cept the opposite, ah'm 'fraid."

"Oh, you're _such_ a liar!" She could hear the laughter in Jack's voice before an arm wraps itself around her neck and pull her down, and argh! She cannot believe this! He's going to wrestle her like a barbarian! If her mum ever caught wind of this, Merida wouldn't hear the end of it, she bets. But — _you're on_.

"You know what, Jack, it seems late anyway. I need to get lunch 'fore my next class. How about we set up a meeting for the presentation later and discuss the content at a more conducive environment?" Toothiana looks at her watch, eyebrows raised, but her lips twisting in kind, while Merida tries to twist herself away from his grip. Jack, on the other hand, tries to muster that expression where he's trying to consider a suggestion professionally and yet simultaneously trying to brave a feat of holding down a very active female that's already snarling like a wolf in his grip. You know. A typical Tuesday.

"Hah!" Merida shouts, head under his chin, and the smile there is pressed against Jack's collarbone, "Sounds tae me yer goin' ta get yer arse in dae library soon, laddie. Poor yae. I'll make sure tae send North an invitation fer yer funeral, aye?"

"Shut up," He rolls his eyes, but looks at Toothiana with a nod, and an apologetic smile towards Chloe. "I'll make the group chat and we can hash out the details more in there."

"Yup. I think I gotta go, too. I'll see you around, guys. And, uh — nice to meet you, Merida."

"Nice tae meet ya too, lass." Quickly, she turns to Jack without as much as a blink, a feral tinkle to her eyes shine bright when she suddenly says, "Race ya' to the cafeteria?"

For the first time in the whole exchange, it's _Jack's_ turn to throw his head back and laugh. Merida watches, mesmerise — because this. This beats any of the mandatory classes she needs to put up with to make mum happy. This look that Jack's giving her, the way he throws back a challenge as good as he can receive them. This is why he's her _best_ _friend_ , and by god, will Merida fight to keep this forever if she could. And knowing herself, she'd fight for it bold and forwardly. 

"Loser buys the other their lunch," Jack offers, and when Merida lets her legs carry her to their destination, it really does feel like their banter — their friendship — could truly last forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Cuddling Fest**

* * *

"Gawd, Mum!"

And Merida tries telling herself that she wouldn't cry. Really, she can't afford to, you know? She has this whole reputation of either being completely insane or absolutely tomboy-ish that it won't do her good if the waterworks would just spring on her like this. But her lips do wobble a bit while her mum continue going on and on — and it wasn't like Merida didn't get it. She does!

Of course she understands how completely necessary it was for her to focus on her academics as much as she's focusing on sports, but it's so bloody infuriating for her that her own mother has made it sound like she's gotten into the college simply out of pure luck. Pure luck, her arse! She's worked _hard_ , dammit, and her sports scholarship is still going strong, isn't it? Why couldn't she see that? Why couldn't she see what she's achieved instead of what she's _lost_?

"Ah'm just sayin', dear—"

"Oh, _please_."

There's a halt to her mother's tone, and really, it's a super power, this one: acting like she's all shocked that her nineteen-year-old daughter has the ability to talk back at her like she hasn't done so since she was, what, ten? Merida pokes on the exposed toe where her torn sleeping stokin has failed to cover with her other fully covered one, just — to _fiddle_ with something before her voice cracks some more. "Merida DunBroch, now yae listen tae me, young lass—"

"Gawd!"

Behind her, Merida can hear the door creaks open. She looks over her shoulder, and sees Jack standing there with eyes wide and just a smudge of terror laced in his expression. He mouthes something like, _your mum?_ , and Merida gives out a tiring shrug, eyes averting back towards the toe because crying in front of anybody is one thing. Crying in front of Jack? Hah.

...He was probably the only one she ever actively cried in front of, though Merida would sooner grab a fork and stab her eyes than relive any memories of her during her time of weakness. Blergh. Crying. _Gross_.

"No! No! Yae' never listen tae me! Yae never do!" Merida cries back, exasperated, and her cheeks feel hotter the longer she's hearing her mother shrieks back. Thank god they weren't facetiming today. Merida knew this was gonna happen! "Yae always lookin' at what I do wrong, and thinkin' I can't take care of mae'self, but guess what, mum, I am! I'm alive. A miracle, ain't it? I'll be eatin' and drinkin' and seein' my coach and there's lots of friends here and I'm not fallin' apart on my arse jus' 'cause yae aren't here tae lecture me every second of every minute, Mum—and oh _quit_ _it_ with my grades, already, yae know I never wanted tae study it 'n the first place!"

In the reflection of the mirror she's facing, she can see Jack's already busying himself in the small kitchen at the entryway. He doesn't have his headphones on this time. Why would he? It's Friday. Movie night. And now he's an unpaid spectator to the fantastic meltdown of the DunBroch women. _Great_.

"Because I have tae choose _somethin_ ' tae study aside from mae sports—yae know what, my friends are here, n' we're goin' tae study. I have tae go, Mum."

" _Merida!_ "

"Bye!" Her thumb couldn't press harder against the large red dot on the screen signalling the end of the phone conversation. And, for perfectly reasonable measure, she puts her phone into an airplane mode. Whatever set of lecture she's got to handle when she turns it back on, she'll face them later. Right now? Right now all Merida wants is to bury her face in the cushion shaped like a sushi piece Jack's Uncle got for her during a trip to Japan, slide down her bed, and scream in it. Which she does.

"Popcorn's hot." Jack's voice somehow pierces right through her concentration, and Merida peeks from behind the sushi cushion to stare at him. Don't cry, she tells herself, though she sniffs just a bit and huffs her hair right out of her face. Jack puts the bowl down and pushes those red curls back for her. But because he looks like he's babying her and she's against that, she huffs again. Jack rolls his eyes. "You look like Kirby."

"Ugh." Her knees are drawn close to her chest — the sushi in between the knob of her knees and her cheeks — and Merida groans. "Can yae believe her, the nerve!"

"Honestly? I don't really understand a lot from the conversation because your accents get thicker when you're angry or — er, _passionate_ , remember? But I get that she must've really pissed you off, huh?" Jack answers in between chewing on the 'corns he must've heated during the whole debacle and it almost angers her, seeing him like this, so relaxed and non-worrying when she's anything _but_. On another hand though, Merida can't trust her temper completely.

That's where Jack's role becomes more... _important_. When she couldn't calm down, he usually can. They just work like that. Always has.

So Merida only sags her shoulders even though all she wanted was to probably shake Jack to be just as fixedly furious about this just as much as she's being, and leans a little when Jack slides next to her and pulls the laptop where it's hiding under sleep shirts that can _totally_ be worn again.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Merida looks at him. He looks back, patient and so — so collected — it's a wonder how sometimes Merida _understands_ why some women tend to get so crazy over her best friend, it's moment like this, really, when Jack's not being a hundred-percent goof like she knows him to be — and she shakes her head. Slow.

"Okay, that's cool. Let's just enjoy a good time with Van Diesel, alright?"

"Ah' prefer The Rock," Merida mumbles and hears Jack laughs at that. 

"Of course you do," he retaliates, already bypassing the security on her laptop and scrolling down whatever illegal files he managed to get with his little pendrive that's shaped like Spongebobs. Like she said, goof. It makes Merida smiles. She puts her head on his shoulder and she could feel, _feel_ , how he grins.

"You know the new Mission Impossible that's gonna come out?"

"Mm." She hums.

"Make sure your night's free that day, I'm booking us seats to the screening."

Her eyes are wide now, and her spine's shot up. She just needs _space_ to look Jack right in the eyes and his whole demeanour, honestly. This is a big deal. "No way! Ah' thought it's sold out!"

Jack nods, "Yeah, Bunny broke up with that chic he thought he was gonna marry or whatever and gave his tickets to us. Cool, huh?"

"Gawd, ah' could kiss him right now!"

At this, he makes a face, "Dude."

And for the first time that night, Merida laughs, elbow already out to shove the white-haired teen. "Yer' just jealous ah'm stealin' your Australian boyfriend from yae, yae sucker."

"Oh yeah, that's exactly the reason why I'm entirely mortified by the concept of you two lips-locking."

Merida laughs some more, the worries from seconds ago seemingly... gone. Just like that. 

Shone by the laptop screen, Jack grins, then taps on their awaiting and agreed movie. An action film, of course. Because they're adrenaline-junkies, like that. He lifts up one arm, and almost naturally, Merida scoots on closer until she fits herself against him like that. She could kill Jack for this. He's the only one who knows she's a huge cuddler. The movie starts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merida's dorm is actually pretty small: just enough to fit two beds, two desks, and two functioning closets. Jack and her sits on the space between the beds because Merida litters her side of the floor with clothes, pillows and blankets so it's comfy. Thankfully, each dorm room has their own small bathroom, though I imagine there's a communal shower place on the second floor or something. Kids use it when their own toilet break down. Also, her roommate is Pocahontas who's studying Zoology. Pocahontas is a scholarship student who sleeps at the library a lot.


End file.
